The invention relates to a tissue cutter for medical purposes with forceps-like handles at the proximal end for actuating the cutting tool at the distal end by means of an outer shaft and an operating rod, whereby the outer shaft of the tissue cutter is constructed in tubular manner and internally at the distal end has a stripper for stripping the drawn-in pieces of tissue from the cutting tool.
For the purpose of removing the cut tissue or pieces of bone from the instrument it was hitherto necessary to remove the instrument from the operating area after each cut, which is not only very time-consuming, but also very unpleasant for the patient. Particularly in laparoscopy the length of the operation was considerably increased by the frequent removal of the tissue cutter. The present tissue cutter has the important advantage relative thereto that there is no need for the frequent removal thereof for the purpose of removing cut tissue or bones. For this purpose the pieces of tissue are moved into the tubular shaft and are held there by the stripper by cross-sectionally saw tooth-shaped recesses in the inner wall of the shaft. Generally the endoscope shaft is sufficiently long to receive all pieces of tissue and bone resulting from an operation (German Utility Model 7 705 342).
However, it may occur, particularly at the start of the operation, that specimens do not remain in the endoscope shaft and instead are displaced forwards together with the cutting tool, i.e. they remain attached to the latter. This is for example due to the fact that the pieces are only very small and cannot therefore be forced with the desired pressure into the shaft.
It is also due to the fact that as a result of the adhesive power such small pieces of tissue adhere to the cutting tool.